3 salt water tank has failed!

[border324]

i am so lost! i have no idea what way to turn. i just had my 2 clown fish die last night and i am tired of spend 100's$ on fish and equpiment to help my tank! i keep great water quality and all my levels stay at 0 and i do a monthy water change. i have a 55 gallon tank and a XP2 filter and a seaclone 100 for a protin skimmer, 2 power heads and a 350watt heater. 2 bags of crushed coral and about 40 pounds of painted rock i bought from my local fish store
i am thinking about keeping a reef set up and not keep fish it seems to bring only disease and a bunch of trouble i dont need. i plane to get a complet new set up and the whole nine yards
here what i would like to get let me know if every thing is cool

aqua clear pro series wet dry filter rated for 150gallons 600gph comes with a protin skimmer built in
mag drive7 water pump rated for 700 gph
aqua light compact fluorencet strip light 10,000 k
65 pounds of select fiji premium live rock
1 bag of indo pacific black sand 20pounds

if thers any thing there that dont go to gether or i need please let me know befor i buy this stuff i really want to be a good aquarist. i am just have trouble getting started
thanks michael

 

[cj10488]

The painted Rock might be an issue.. I would really be leary about using anything painted on the inside of my tank

Another thing to think about what testing kits are you using.. how often do you test your water??? Do you QT your fish before you add them to the main display tank? Along the same lines how many fish do you add to the tank at the same time.. Patience is very important when setting up SW as the fish and such are VERY sensitive to small changes in their environment unlike FW...

What size tank is this??? 350watt heater makes me think this is like a 125+gal tank.. how long do you wait after setting up the tank before adding fish

JAmes

 

[Michel]

Painted rock ????
What were the symptoms of the clown before they died ?
Replace your rocks by live rocks !!! It will help the bio balance !
Reef will be even tougher since water quality is most important with inverts and soft and hard corals
Soory for your lost

 

[fishfreek]

40 pounds of painted rock

I think we might have an issue where we are using different terminology. Hopefully you mean you have 40lbs of live rock. Can you describe this rock to us as far as coloration, texture, etc.

At what temperature are you running your tank? You mention its a 55 gal and im also concerned about yoru heater like James. Is your heater maybe overheating the tank? One thing ot be concerned over is if the thermostat on the heater should stick and not allow the heater to cut off properly.

If you indeed want to go reef then I would look at a higher output light than just 1 strip light unless it is going to contain mutiple power compact bulbs. For a 55 I would suggest no less than a 4 X 55W PC light setup.

One thing that I found invauable as a beginner was a few reference books. Books can be a great companion to the web as a resource because you can always go to your bookshelf and reference a concept or idea.

The fish your getting are they eating at the stores? How long are they at the stores before they are purchased?

 

[HoopsGuru]

One bit of logic.....so many of us here keep fish without any problems and with minimal effort. Something is evidently wrong with your setup and you should definitely hold off on purchasing any new equipment until we can (and we will!) get you on the right road to success.

 

[border324]

thanks to all of you! really!
i have a 350watt heater and i have a stick on temp gauge reads about 82-84 some times 80degress as for the painted rock and i mean painted rock. not live rock. i dont know what type of rock it is but it is white and painted blue on parts of it. i read the box it came in and it did not say i could not use it in salt water so i got it.
one thing i read from some one here was "do you qt your fish befor adding to main tank?" no i do not what does that do?
when i buy a fish i open his bag and pour half out and pour a 1/4 of it back with my tank water, wait like 10 min and do it again now i got a half bag of my tank water and half stores water. wait 10 mins then i empty out all but a 1/4 of the water in the bag and fill it up with my tank water. i keep my lights turned out so not to cause stress. should i qt my fish befor adding to main tank?
and what type of dip should i use? or should I ? i empty my tank too day and would like to start over fresh. i am going to get rid of my painted rock and gravle and i would like to get 1 bag of that black sand i dont know if i want to make a deep bed of sand or not should i? and how do you think i should start out?
thanks michael

 

[Guest]

One bit of logic.....so many of us here keep fish without any problems and with minimal effort. Something is evidently wrong with your setup and you should definitely hold off on purchasing any new equipment until we can (and we will!) get you on the right road to success.

I will second that emotion, we have all had things go wrong, it is part of learning and having fun... no, it isn't fun when things such as this happen. Please keep your head up and don't get discouraged. You came to the right place and we will help the best way we know how..

The Painted rock thing, I don't know about, because I haven't seen any except for the ones at PetSmart and they are saltwater safe...They are mostly molded PVC material.. Plastic..

You wrote:

i am thinking about keeping a reef set up and not keep fish it seems to bring only disease and a bunch of trouble i dont need. i plane to get a complet new set up and the whole nine yards
here what i would like to get let me know if every thing is cool

aqua clear pro series wet dry filter rated for 150gallons 600gph comes with a protin skimmer built in
mag drive7 water pump rated for 700 gph
aqua light compact fluorencet strip light 10,000 k
65 pounds of select fiji premium live rock
1 bag of indo pacific black sand 20pounds

I would vote on not getting the new complete setup... IF you are talking about a reef setup, the wet/dry will not be in best interest... You can use it as a sump but you can go cheaper with just buying a 20 gal long tank and using it as a sump... Then keep the seaclone skimmer. The Mag 7 is cool, and you will have to buy the overflow for the sump to work. The LR is going to be an invaluable purchase and the sand would be cool however you will need a lot more than that...prolly 120 more lbs. to get the desired depth...

I am going to let otheres chime in here... good luck

 

[biotoxin]

Its suggested that you freshwater dip most new fish to get off any bacteria before adding them to your main tank. Maybe next time you can try that. From what ive read 84 is fairly warm from 78-82 is good and fluctuations from low to high are not good. I was dealing with high temps on my tank but i was a stooge and left the hood on. I leave it off now and the temp is stable. As far as getting a new setup i agree its not a good idea, if you dont learn from this experience and become a better aquarist youre doomed to just repeat the same mistake on a new setup.

 

[fishfreek]

I would suggest taking a look at two of our articles on Acclomation and Quarinteen prior to getting additional fish. Both procedures while they are somewhat time intensive will pay off in the long run.

Aquarium Advice Articles

The quarinteen procedure is designed to catch potental health problems prior to the fish getting introduced into the display aquarium. Once the fish is in the display aquarium (expecially if it has lot of live rock) its very hard to get the fish out with out destorying the aquascaping in the tank.

I try to acheeve a fairly consistant temp of 82 in my tanks.

 

[gooyferret]

Once the fish is in the display aquarium (expecially if it has lot of live rock) its very hard to get the fish out with out destorying the aquascaping in the tank.

LOL FF im in total understanding of that i just transfered my butterfly into my 75 gallon for a temporary solution for the case of the tang picking on him and causing the tang and himself to get ich. Not to worry the butterfly is the only one in my 75 gallon and the ich wont spread.. It took me over an hour to get that bugger outta the tank with LR i eventually took some LR out and got him Man hes a fast swimmer 8O

 

[border324]

thanks guys and gals
i will not get a new set up as you sugest. but i did empty my tank water! because at my local fish store they told me to put copper in my tank and i know now i will play hack getting it out. so i will clean my tank and get rid of my painted rock and get fresh sand. not crushed coral. any insight on that ? do you think that is better. and how much sand would i need for a 55 gallon? 6 inchs
also how much live rock should i buy?
thanks
michael

 

[Guest]

To get a 6" depth of sand, you will need approx 220 lbs
For LR I would suggest no less that 65 lbs
IMO You should not consider CC at all.

Do not use anything at all porous out of the tank in the new setup. Copper will still be resident in it and leech out over time... I would also fill up the tank and clean it out with a mild bleach solution to kill anything that might be lingering... Then rinse it extremely well.

Good luck to you...

 

[two11devan]

I wouldn't think that doing a fresh water dip would be very good for a fish that is already freakin out from being netted,put in a bag and taken to your home. I would think that netting it again, dunking it in FW and netting it once again to put it in your tank will stress the fish out to no end! Im not knocking fresh water dipping, I have had success with it, but I think the fish is just already too stressed to do this. I think the best solutiuon would be to just QT. When you think about how much money you are spending on your tank and fish, it just makes sense

 

[border324]

To get a 6" depth of sand, you will need approx 220 lbs
For LR I would suggest no less that 65 lbs
IMO You should not consider CC at all.

dont understand?
i will need 220 pound of sand and no less than 65 pounds of live rock?
also why would i need 220 pounds for LR?
is 6 inchs depth for sand good or would it matter if i only put 20 pounds of sand in my tank about 1 inch?
thanks
michael

 

[fishfreek]

Tim is suggesing you go with a DSB insead of a shallow sand bed. The DSB has greater filtration capacity than a shallow bed. The shallow bed really wont do much for your tank other than visual and ammonia removal.

Its suggested a DSB be no shallower than 3" and 4"+ is recommended. Also if you want to use live rock as a filtration methiod then you would need at least 1lb per gal with 1.5lbs per gal being a more optimal amount.

 

[border324]

ok i will go with a deep sand bed. thanks now what type of filter is best for a reef tank or a fish only i want to keep my opinions open for in the future?
i am buying pacific black sand for my set up! now should i make the whole bottom thats sand or could i use play sand to fill it up some so i dont have to pay as much for that sand? i plan to buy 85 pounds or live rock also if that does any thing for filtration wise?
after this what do i do next(step wise)
thanks michael

 

[Guest]

You could add the play sand, that will give it the salt and pepper look...

85 lbs of LR will give you pretty much all of the filtration you need....

 

[border324]

so if i have 90 pounds of live rock and about 60 pounds of pacific black sand i will not need a filter just my protine skimmer or should i keep it running for extra filtration?
what do you think of wet dry filters are they worth the money?
and are they better for a reef set up?
lights what type of lighting do you suggest for a 55 gallon reef system?
thanks
michael